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Before the 1989 general elections, a sizeable number of people in Chittoor district used to think that Kuppam, the tail-end tri-State junction flanked by Tamil Nadu in the east and Karnataka in the west was a part of both the neighbouring States. When an employee of any government department gets transferred, it is considered a big punishment to him. Such was the horrible state of backwardness in Kuppam, with no significant roads, water, health facilities or educational institutions. If anyone falls sick or gets injured in a road mishap, his destination used to be Bengaluru or Kolar in Karnataka, which are considerably nearer than the district headquarters, Chittoor.
Under these conditions, incumbent Telugu Desam Party national president N. Chandrababu Naidu contested from here as the TDP candidate when the late N.T. Rama Rao was the party’s president in 1989. However, Mr. Naidu carried the tag of “NTR’s son-in-law”, which brought Kuppam into a sudden limelight, though the TDP won from this tri-State junction in the earlier elections in 1983 and 1985 by-elections. Incredibly, the TDP has never faced defeat in all its elections in this constituency. Since 1989, Mr. Naidu has continued to be the MLA of Kuppam, and the 2024 edition happens to be his eighth time contest.
When Mr. Naidu became the Chief Minister of united Andhra Pradesh in 1985 after the so-called second “August Crisis”, (meaning NTR was unseated from power by his second-in-command Nadendla Bhaskar Rao in August 1984 for the first time; and Mr. Naidu took charge as the Chief Minister on September 1, 1995, after a month-long political drama in August, for the second time), Kuppam was transformed into an “VVIP constituency” overnight. From 1999 till the present 2024 Assembly elections, Mr. Naidu has been following a unique trend — that he would never campaign for himself in Kuppam during the elections, nor even visit the place for filing nomination, while everything would be taken care of by the party cadres. He would just embark on a “Thanksgiving” visit later, each time. During all his contests, Mr. Naidu’s majority counted the most — dangling between 75,000 votes in the 1990s to below 30,000 in the 2019 election, in which he was the lone winner in Chittoor district from Kuppam, losing 13 seats to the YSR Congress Party.
Charge against Naidu
As an MLA from Kuppam for the last 35 years and as the Chief Minister (of both united and residual Andhra Pradesh) for 14 years, Mr. Naidu continues to invite the hardest criticism that despite his lofty standing, he had utterly neglected Kuppam. The crux of the criticism is that — when Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy became the Chief Minister in 2004, he immediately focussed on his Pulivendula constituency, bringing unprecedented development to the region, with government educational institutions, modernisation of health care and rural and urban infrastructure. The same was the case of Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy, who was the last Chief Minister of United Andhra Pradesh for three years till the bifurcation in 2014. Mr. Kiran Kumar Reddy’s Piler Assembly constituency in undivided Chittoor witnessed phenomenal development with the arrival of defence sector institutions, JNTU (Kalikiri), and “extraordinary” roads (which used to be narrow and single roads before his taking charge) and a government area hospital.
In contrast, Kuppam does not have a government engineering college even today. Except for the National Highway connecting Kuppam with Krishnagiri, the rural roads in the constituency are in a bad shape. Though a private medical college was set up in 2001, its teaching hospital remains only a referral hospital, and Mr. Naidu’s claim that he brought “a medical college” to Kuppam largely remains “unacceptable”. The Dravidian University, located 10 km away from Kuppam, functional since 1999, at present, suffers from various problems, including a paucity of staff, while the students’ admission has dropped by over 70%, being a language university.
Though Mr. Naidu kept promising that the Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi waters would be brought to Kuppam, it remains a distant dream, with works being incomplete. Though Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy formally released the waters into the HNSS Kuppam branch canal a few months ago, it invited severe criticism that “it’s an election gimmick by releasing stored water.” The moment Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy left Kuppam, the water flow into the canal became a dribble.
Home to elephants
With no drinking or irrigation water source, the agriculture sector gets severe beating each season. By a cooler climate, the region is saved by floriculture and horticulture crops. Surrounded by the Koundinya Elephant Sanctuary from the north, the forests of Maharaja Kadai from Tamil Nadu, and the Bannerughatta forests of Karnataka, the Kuppam region is home to about 200 elephants, both residents and migrants. This phenomenon wreaks severe crop damage and man-animal conflict in the region, including human and elephant casualties. Though it’s been a big issue for one and half decades, no action plan has worked so far.
Coming to unemployment, Kuppam faces the worst situation, with over 18,000 families depending on the neighbouring areas of Hosur, Kolar, and Bengaluru for livelihood as daily wagers and migrant workers. Hundreds of youth and middle-aged men from Kuppam earn out livelihood in Bengaluru working as watchmen in commercial establishments, banks ATM centers, and malls.
Under these conditions, the YSR Congress Party which trampled the TDP in the Kuppam municipal, territorial constituencies (MPTC and ZPTC) and panchayat elections in 2019 is going by the slogan — “Why Not Kuppam” akin to its “Why not 175” (the number of Assembly constituencies in Andhra Pradesh). While Mr. Naidu visited Kuppam about 20 times between 2019 and 2024, his political rival and Forest Minister (of YSRCP) Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy visited Kuppam over 100 times, strengthening the party cadres, and vowing to defeat Mr. Naidu this time. Mr. Naidu during his last visit to Kuppam gave the slogan “One lakh votes majority”.
Kuppam is predominantly populated by the backward classes, taking a share of about 70% of votes, coming from Kuraba, Gandla, and Agnikula Kshatriya (Telugu and Tamil clans), followed by the Scheduled Caste and upper castes. Mr. Naidu’s opponent is sitting MLC K.J.R. Bharath, who was defeated by Mr. Naidu in 2019. Both Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy and Mr. Peddireddi Ramachandra Reddy came out with a promise that Mr. Bharath would be made a Cabinet minister if they elect him in 2024.
Despite severe backwardness, Kuppam continues to be the bastion of Mr. Naidu, rather than of the TDP. This 2024 edition is once again seen as a contest between “Naidu’s mantra” and the desperate and diehard hopes of Jagan to defeat Mr. Naidu.
Kuppam Assembly Constituency consists of Kuppam, Ramakuppam, Gudupalle and Shantipuram mandals. (flanked by Tamil Nadu and Karnataka)
Number of Voters: 2.22 lakhs (with women being upper hand with 600 plus votes)
